Diary of a Rural Manager!

Market at the micro-level has to serve three main stakeholders with different expectations. Farmers want good price and constant demand, distributor wants fat margin and consumer wants low prices and quality product. In the market scenario at macro-level production of the pulses, demand-supply conditions within India, volatility in global commodity prices, variation in exchange rate, policy of the government, and a surge in import can lead to determination of final price of the any commodity.  This article series aims to provide an introductory overview on the agricultural commodities in India. The first article of this series will carry the discussion by offering an analysis of the pulses in India. India is the world’s largest pulse producing, consuming and importing country. Bengal Gram (Desi Chick Pea / Desi Chana), Pigeon Peas (Arhar / Toor / Red Gram), Green Beans (Moong Beans), Chick Peas (Kabuli Chana), Black Matpe (Urad / Mah / Black Gram), Red Kidney Beans (Rajma),...

Today is my last day at Access Development Services (ADS). I started eighteen months ago managing Farmer Producer Companies (FPOs) at South Rajasthan. I am very proud of my team, and I wish them well. They have a lot of challenging work ahead. But for me, it’s time to move on.  I’m not going to sugarcoat the reasons for my exit. This might be my last chance to switch sector since I am not getting any younger. I have taken a role of Operations Manager in  Chaitanya  at Pune that works in the micro-finance sector. I recognize the task before me is neither small nor easy. Microfinance means different work-style and leadership. The profile of a candidate in the development sector belongs to someone who easily adapts to new environments, enjoys travel and field work, likes to tinker with things, and prefers independence and improvisation to super specific tasks. Strong people management skills is a bonus learning, and much required.  One can't always be the ...

Do you know that only about 10 per cent of the over 22 lakh NGOs file their annual income and expenditure statements with the authorities ? As per given Source - A total of Rs 13,051 crore foreign contribution was received by 17,616 NGOs in the country in 2013-14, Rs 11,527 crore by 20,497 NGOs in 2012-2013 and Rs 11,558 crore by 22,747 NGOs in 2011-2012. Also quoting another Source - The main change is that all NGOs will have to make public each foreign contribution received by them within a week of the receipt, on their official website or a website prescribed by the government. Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) is a regulatory tool that enables monitoring and control of foreign funding. It will be better to know about  pros and cons of this tool  before going in this debate. PMO has initiated exercise to tighten monitoring over NGOs in the country. Intelligence Bureau has given inputs to "improve oversight and increase transparency" in the working of the volu...

Livelihoods Asia Summit 2015 was being held on December 10 and 11 in New Delhi, India. The Summit sessions were on topics like skill development, impacts of climate change on livelihoods, inclusive value chains, policy innovations, and private sector partnerships, among the approaches that offer a pathway out of poverty. The summit has more than a hundred delegates working as  sector specialists,  practitioners, and advocates in the livelihood sector. Panel sessions and other live events are great — especially the Q&A &, which ranges from absurd to tricky. There was a focus on policies, programs, private players, and potential in the poor during the sessions. There was emphasis by panelists to think of poverty as a dynamic and multidimensional phenomenon. There were numerous policy-level talks on SHG and FPO, but the dialogues on the next generation of institutions were lacking at the summit. The summit also ignored rights-based approaches to livelihood develo...

ACCESS has hosted the Inclusive Finance India Summit from December 8th to 9th, 2015 at in New Delhi, India. The summit has gained recognition and the Inclusive Finance India Report has been quoted extensively in the Malegam Committee , and working report for the Microfinance Bill. The Summit has facilitated discourse on issues like-policy environment, data analytics in financial inclusion, mobile wallets, BC model, customer protection, impact of JAM, and innovations in the sector. I attended the summit as the delegate of ACCESS team. The Summit began with release of the Sector report 2015 was followed by several sessions on microfinance and financial inclusion in the country. The buzz of the sessions were around Mudra bank , Payment banks, cash less economy and Small Finance Banks. Eight out of 10 Small Finance Banks which have been given in-principle nod by RBI are microfinance institution (MFIs).  Sector experts are hopeful that Small Finance Banks  fill the "missing midd...

Theda Skocpol, Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard, notes that spending on education and family health care is especially likely to generate social and economic returns. Midday Meal (MDM) program is a school meal programme of the government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide. India's MDM program feeds 120 million children and employs 2 million women. It's an initiative that changes lives and provides human-capital investment in millions of children.  The poorest of the poor are defined as those who can eat only when they get work and who lack shelter, proper clothing, social respect, and means to send their children to school. They have no land, live on daily wages, and need to send school-age children to work in times of crisis. They send children to government schools as this is the only way to ensure one time meal to their wards and the best chance for children to break the cycle of poverty. MDM scheme has...

What is Livelihood ? Nobody understands this word outside the cocoon of the development sector. The problem with the word livelihoods is that it has overtones of subsistence. It hints that poor people should only have enough just to live – not to prosper. As Kate Magro says : “Why is it that Westerners have careers, jobs, employment opportunities and everyone else has a livelihood?” Livelihood is a convergence of multiple disciplines of profession leading to the cash flow in the household. Mostly the poor are engaged in a “diversified portfolio of subsistence activities” (DPSA) for earning their livelihoods. Hence,  Understanding smallholders' financial needs  will be the key step to understand livelihood scenario. A new survey of 1,800 banks conducted by the  Initiative for Smallholder Finance  reveals that the total amount of debt financing supplied by local banks to smallholder farmers in the developing world is approximately $9 billion. The first step tow...